SOURCE:
by Community News Reports - May 3, 2022
The Town of Indian Lake was the biggest winner among Adirondack communities when the NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) awarded $638 million in grants to municipalities statewide for water infrastructure projects.
The state’s grant to Indian Lake, in Hamilton County, will go toward a water treatment plant for the community of Blue Mountain Lake.
All told, seven Adirondack communities were awarded $8 million toward local clean water projects costing more than $23 million.
“We want to thank Gov. Kathy Hochul and the EFC for making this program work for the Adirondack Park,” said Adirondack Council Executive Director William C. Janeway. “It was very important for the state to provide grants that could supplement the EFC’s loan program. It was the right solution for a lot of Adirondack towns and villages that couldn’t afford to repay the loans, but needed to install, fix or replace water systems.”
Janeway said Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Environmental Advocates of NY and Riverkeeper all worked with the Adirondack Council to add the grant program.
“We commend EFC for awarding water grants exceeding $8.3 million to seven Adirondack communities,” Adirondack Council Clean Water Program Coordinator David J. Miller. “Every grant serves the dual purpose of making the Adirondack Park’s waters cleaner, while relieving some of the burden from taxpayers in tiny rural towns.”
Each project will improve water quality in Adirondack lakes and rivers, creating benefits for nature and for communities far beyond the park’s borders. Essex County towns gaining grants included the towns of Essex and Westport on Lake Champlain, and the Town of Schroon on Schroon Lake. The Clinton Count Town of Dannemora (near Maggy Brook, a tributary of the Saranac River) also won grants; as did the Warren County Town of Warrensburg, on the Schroon River.
Schroon Lake (an impoundment of the Schroon River), the Schroon River and Indian Lake (via the Indian River) all flow into the Hudson River. Lake Champlain flows north into the St. Lawrence River via the Richelieu River.
“Over the past six years Adirondack towns and villages have received more than $88 million in grants for their clean water projects,” said Miller, who has been working with communities to gain funding for design and construction costs. “Those grants have made projects feasible and affordable to their communities. But much more needs to be done. We know there are at least $200 million in future Adirondack clean water infrastructure projects still outstanding.”
The proposed Environmental Bond Act would also provide money for clean water projects, he said.
In addition, there was a $3 million grant to the City Plattsburgh for a $5.24-million project. While not an Adirondack community, Plattsburgh’s wastewater system is vital to the health of the lower Saranac River and to Lake Champlain, whose shoreline and bottom make up more than 100 miles of the park’s eastern boundary.
Editor’s note: This has been updated to clarify the location and scope of Indian Lake’s project.